Double row angular ball bearings are known, see for example U.S. Pat. No. 6,957,919. Such ball bearings have a single outer ring with a pair of adjacent inwardly oriented raceways, a single inner ring with a pair of adjacent outwardly oriented raceways, and two ball crown rings with window type cages. In the '919 patent, lugs are used to mate with a groove in either the upper or lower ring to maintain the ball crown ring in either the inner or outer ring.
A drawback to such arrangements is the weight and the size associated with such cages. Since the cages employ a window which fully encircles the ball, the bearing must account for a portion of the cage that extends into the space between the two crown rings, thereby requiring a large axial spacing between adjacent cages.
One solution to the spacing and the weight associated with such a large cage is to employ plastic snap cages. Snap cages employ pockets for housing the balls rather than windows. Such plastic snap cages are known, see for example U.S. Pat. No. 6,416,230.
Double row angular contact ball bearings having split inner ring have been used to provide increased flexibility to the bearing. One of the drawbacks with ball bearings that have split inner rings and that do not employ snap cages is that the inner rings easily separate from the bearing until such time as the bearing is mounted for its intended use. One solution to the problem of the separation of the bearing is to employ sleeves around the bearing until such time as the bearing is to be mounted for its intended purpose. The problem with the sleeves is that when the sleeves are removed the bearing can become unassembled prior to its mounting. There is a need for a better arrangement in a bearing in order to avoid the separation of the split inner ring from the bearing and to avoid potential bearing damage during handling on an assembly line.